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Be rooted again: how a simple trick enhances life and wellbeing

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Be rooted treeBe rooted and you can become almost unshakeable. This is a common principle in martial arts, especially taiji (tai chi), where we can become so firmly grounded through the legs and feet that another person finds it impossible to push or pull us over. It gives an illusion of enormous strength but there is little muscular force in it, in fact quite the opposite. To be rooted, we have to learn to become centred and to relax. Although this technique, if we call it that, we express through the body, it is a mental approach that we can apply throughout life.

Be rooted: find your centre

When we are anxious – and we are living in an age where there is much anxiety – whatever we think or do plays out on a background of instability. Our energy is unsettled and our minds are too active, too yang. As a result, events in life and even what people say can pull us this way and that. Our stress responses go up and quality of life goes down. We have forgotten how to be rooted.

The first step in coming back is to find our own centre. Instead of letting our energy go up through the chest and into our head, creating chaos on the way, we bring it to the centre of the body and down into the belly. Just focus. Let the energy build. Focus at the navel or slightly below and slow the breath down. The energy will come home to its centre. It’s a good feeling and is entirely natural.

Relax: keep your head up but let your feet sink

Letting the energy come home to the centre is the first stage. To be rooted well, we also need to let go of everything and relax. Relax your legs and feet, too. Your feet are designed to be in contact with the ground, so let them enjoy that. Let them sink. Really feel the earth through your feet. Thich Nhat Hanh used to say, “kiss the Earth with your feet”. Or we may like to feel as though we are breathing through the soles, drawing in nourishment from the ground beneath us. Once we have learnt to be rooted like this, there is no cause for anxiety. Centred and relaxed, we belong to the Earth and wherever we are, we are at home. Life is so much better like that. And it’s easy.

There is more like this in The Great Little Book of Happiness and my other books, available here.

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Strength: 3 reasons why balance is better than muscle

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Strength taiji
Strength and balance

Strength is wonderful. When we are strong, whether in body or mind, and preferably both, we feel great and can achieve many good things. Cultivating strength seems very worthwhile. It often results from dedication, application and discipline – from gong fu. A strong character is developed through life’s experiences and, if we are lucky, sound education. Daily, we see the actions of those who have used strength in order to become powerful and perhaps wonder if it is such a good quality after all. In taiji (tai chi), we emphasise balance as the way to become strong. Being powerful should be of no interest whatsoever. Here’s why this is essential, not just in taiji, but to leading a happy life.

Strength lies in the beauty of the play of yin and yang

Life is a continual play of opposites. Once we accept and understand this, we don’t need to cling onto what is good, nor fear the bad. When we cling, we become very yin. When we fight, we become very yang. Both are states of weakness and imbalance that are detrimental to health and wellbeing. They can also cause problems and unhappiness for those around us. No good points there, then. But all we need to do is let go. In taiji, we learn to relax in our movements so that the blood and qi can flow through the body unimpeded. Good upright posture but relaxed and open. Strength is in grace and poise, not power. The principle in life is the same. Balance yin with yang, and yang with yin. No forcing – just play.Strength tree

Head points to Heaven, feet to Earth – don’t forget the feet

There is a very valuable principle in taiji of being rooted. When we begin learning the movements, the placing of the feet in the correct position is drummed into us. Only much later can we understand why this is so important. When we know how to relax the body, including the feet, and to open the joints, which takes a long while to develop, the experience of being rooted comes. It’s a wonderful feeling. There is enormous strength in being connected to the Earth in this way. It is very difficult for others to push or pull us off balance. In modern life we tend to focus in the head and forget the feet. The world is more than a little crazy because we have become very clever but in the process have lost our stability.

The Goldilocks effect

Muscles are better than porridge. Even if you are a porridge fan, you can’t eat porridge without muscles. Some people like to build up their muscle bulk to acquire an impressive physique. Oddly, you don’t see animals going to the gym or lifting weights, but you do see them stretching. Strength isn’t about having big muscles but having a body that is fit for purpose. Too little muscle, and we are weak; too much and we become tight and lose some of our flexibility. Like Goldilocks’s choice of porridge, there is a midpoint that is just right. In taiji, there are moves that involve standing on one leg. Most people wobble a bit at first. Gradually, through doing relaxed movements, strength builds up. A stiff leg isn’t strong, we discover. We learn, too, that a taut abdomen makes us weaker, paradoxical though that may seem. In life, too, there is a midpoint in everything. The Middle Way. Now, that’s strength.

For an exploration of finding the middle way in life, read my book The Art of Not Doing available here.

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Healing is for everybody – you have the gift, so why not use it?

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Healing harmonyHealing is something we can all do for ourselves. In fact, we are doing it all the time. Whenever we feel the need to rest or sleep and let the body do that, we co-operate with the natural healing processes of the body. The mind, too, needs healing and sleep is one of the essential factors in that.

Most healing is not a case of doing something magical but of taking a step back and letting Nature perform its magic. In reality, nobody heals. The art is in providing the conditions that support this very natural process.

Healing is repairing – so work with it, not against it

The human body is remarkable. When in tune, it is like a symphony – complex but beautiful. But we abuse it through wrong food and drink, or too much or too little of it. Unable to relax naturally, we play or work on computers and other screens until late in the evening or the small hours. Exposed to noise, fumes and radiation, what happens? Hey – the body bounces back! For a while, that is. Running repairs are something the body does very well. Then the day comes and something has to give. We begin to feel out of sorts or fall sick. The symphony has become punk. Yet all we need to do is really listen to the body. There is an inner harmony that the body wants to play with and to dance to. Go with it. That’s healing.

A quick technique for enlivening health and increasing your vitality

This is a simple thing to do. It’s quite delightful, only takes moments to do and feels completely natural. Do it at least once a day if you can. You may want to do it more often.

Massage the hands gently, including the fingers and the wrists. Start with the palm on one hand and work outwards. Don’t press too hard – light to moderate pressure is enough. This enlivens the energy in the body as it stimulates both nerve endings and pressure points that are reflected in the body. After half a minute or so, work on the other hand. Then sit with the hands open, palms up, and imagine absorbing energy from the cosmos.

That’s it. A few seconds of loving attention is all it takes to trigger the healing mechanisms in the body. It’s good for the mind, too, as we consciously re-establish our connection with the universe, which is our home.

For free healing meditation, go here. No sign-up required.

More on self-healing methods in The Great Little Book of Happiness

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Longevity: seven secrets of ageing gracefully

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Longevity tai chi masterLongevity is a lovely word that beautifully conjures up images of a long and healthy life. Age merely becomes a number as the essence of youth carries us on its fragrance into the later decades of life.

But the truth is that although people are generally living far longer, longevity in our society doesn’t always match up to our ideal image. Most in middle age will say that they would rather be shot than end their days in a care home. In spite of that promise to themselves, too many end up where they dreaded being. Perhaps it needn’t be like that. Here are some things we can do to minimise the risk.

For longevity, breathe deeply and more slowly

Many of us breathe shallowly. Instead of using the diaphragm and filling the bottom part of the lungs, we fill the top and maybe a bit of the middle. Breathing more deeply reduces the stress responses in the body and can help to reduce blood pressure. It increases oxygenation and tends to stabilise the flow of qi or vitality, which we need to conserve more as we age.

Meditate or learn to sit quietly every day

There is a wealth of documentation on the benefits of meditation and quiet sitting on health and wellbeing. Imagine life like being on a train journey. We can choose to enjoy that journey, admire the scenery and stop off here and there. Sitting quietly with ourselves for five or ten minutes a day, longer if we wish, helps us to enjoy our trip through life. That really is what longevity is about.

Do something that engages both sides of your brain

Meditation helps to harmonise the left and right hemispheres of the brain. If we tend to analyse, use logic and intellectualise a great deal, the intuitive side of the brain can be underused. Drawing, gardening and listening to music, for example, if done with full awareness, will help to balance things out.

Aerobic exercise is good in moderation

If you like to run or go to the gym, great. It’s much better than sitting on one’s bottom all day. But longevity is about balance, too. As we age, the body’s energy changes and exercise that is very strenuous can be counter-productive. Walking, dancing, tai chi (taiji) and yoga are all good for promoting a long and healthy life.

Learn something new every day

Learning stimulates the brain and encourages the growth and renewal of neural pathways. If combined with physical activity, such as learning and practicing tai chi, there are multiple benefits.

Taiji and qigong

Think about looking into these classic exercise systems for longevity if you haven’t done so already. These are forms of physical exercise sequences, practised with a relaxed and heightened state of awareness. Both taiji and qigong work on the energy of the body as well as the normal physical aspects and emphasise promoting health in the vital organs.

Let go of the past – and the future

Clinging to memories of the good old days or to resentment of when they were bad causes negative energy patterns in us. Similarly, hoping for something to happen in the future takes us out of the present into an imaginary sphere. Let go of all this. It’s like junk in the attic. Clear it out and let yourself be free.

The Great Little Book of Happiness – A Guide to Leading a Happier Life looks closely at the various cycles of life and how to achieve balance for longevity.

An evening workshop entitled How to Eliminate Fear is coming up very soon in Staffordshire. A limited number of places is still available. More information.

Related posts:

  1. Energy circulation: why it is better for health than jogging
  2. Qi power – secrets of internal energy for health and stability
  3. Be rooted again: how a simple trick enhances life and wellbeing
  4. Movement: why listening to our body is vital for health

Bliss: why it is good for health, as well as your mind

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Bliss for health

Bliss is one of those words that hasn’t stood the test of time very well. It has become lost in airy-fairy phrases that convey little meaning. A marriage may be very happy, for instance, but to speak of wedded bliss is usually an expression for a state that has little to do with the phenomenon of body and mind. So we tend not to use the term bliss very much. I think perhaps we should.

Bliss can occur naturally in body as well as mind

Bliss occurs when the energy of the body reaches a certain pitch and vibrates through the nervous system. There has to be an alignment of sorts. Everything is in tune. In effect, the body is singing. It becomes melodious. The very cells of our body vibrate happiness. It can be an extraordinary sensation, yet it feels the most natural thing in the world. That’s because it is natural. Sadly, most people don’t experience it.

Why the mind is involved – but it’s better if we don’t think very much

Anyone who has had the experience of bliss will tell you that it is accompanied by great clarity and wakefulness. There is also a feeling of being totally at ease.

Most of the time, our mind is arguing with itself and creating tension. Instead of accepting what life presents fully and completely, our mind argues that there is a better way. Things could be, and ought to be, different. This is an anathema to bliss. Instead of analysing all the time, let the mind enjoy some stillness.

Let your awareness flood your body

Consciousness is the key to bliss but we also need the body. Bliss comes when body and consciousness are united. Rarely does our consciousness fill our body completely. We may be aware of our hands typing or our legs walking. A headache or pain somewhere may trouble us. These everyday things are normal for all of us. But if we let our awareness spread through the whole body at the same time, something wonderful happens.

The easiest way of doing this is to let your consciousness ride the breath. As you breathe out, feel as though your breath reaches all parts of your body. There’s no analysis to do – just enjoy it and let go.

Healing bliss

As the body relaxes, we may have different sensations. It is important not to become attached to them as the whole process involves letting go of everything. As we do so, the blood vessels and energy channels in the body tend to dilate. Qi (chi) and blood can reach all parts of the body more easily, taking the natural healing powers of the body to where they are needed. This is healing as natural as it gets. And it paves the way for bliss.

Can’t stop thinking? Treat yourself to a copy of The Art of Not Doing 

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  3. Be rooted again: how a simple trick enhances life and wellbeing
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